By DAVID NOWAK, Associated Press, Sat May 16 MOSCOW – Riot police broke up several gay rights demonstrations in Moscow on Saturday, hauling away scores of protesters hours before the capital hosted a major international pop music competition. No injuries were reported, but the detentions could damage Russia’s desire to be seen as a modern nation as it holds the finals of the Eurovision song... 

Photos: Moscow police is getting ready for Gay Parade disrupt on the Eurovision Final day. Photos by Norwegsky Lesnoy  Read More →

source: esctoday.com Russian singer and producer Philip Kirkorov has announced that he is withdrawing from the Eurovision Song Contest jury in his country, both as member and chairman. The decision follows questions about his impartiality due to his close relationship with some participants in the competition. He will continue to work for Channel One Russia as commentator of the Final of the 2009 Eurovision... 

By Anna Malpas / The Moscow Times, 14 May 2009 Moscow is gearing up for the Eurovision Song Contest final on Saturday, which will pit 25 nations against each other in a festival of outrageous costumes, flag-waving patriotism and clunky lyrics. The event threatens to be overshadowed by violence, however, as gay rights activists plan to hold an unsanctioned march in central Moscow earlier in the day. The... 

By Natalya Krainova / The Moscow Times, 13 May 2009 Moscow dogcatchers resorted to poisoning and beating stray dogs to death as they followed orders from City Hall to clean up the streets ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest, animal rights activists said Wednesday. Ecology for Human Rights, an animal rights group, has received about 50 complaints since last fall about the inhuman treatment of stray... 

Moscow government is terribly afraid of the swine flu epidemic. Thousand of foreign guests will come to Russian capital these days for Eurovision Finals, and many of them from Germany, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, – countries where the flu cases were registered. All Moscow health units – hospitals, clinics, ambulance stations etc. are set in the high alert regime. Moscow medics got a strict... 

MOSCOW (Reuters), Thu May 7, 2009 – Moscow has banned a gay parade planned to coincide with its hosting of the Eurovision Song Contest because it will “destroy morals” in the capital, a spokesman for the city’s mayor said Thursday. Gay rights activists have staged small unsanctioned parades in Moscow without government approval over the past few years. But they have faced arrests...